Neuroscience has found an unusual ally in its mission to probe our cognitive machinery - magic.

Featuring a picture of Teller, who appeared at the IdeaFestival in September to deliver a captivating talk about the "science of wonder of magic," Scientific Americangets to the point, describing how science is building on the long understood practice and intuition of magicians:

Neuroscientists are just beginning to catch up with the magician’s facility in manipulating attention and cognition. Of course the aims of neuroscience are different from those of magic; the neuroscientist seeks to understand the brain and neuron underpinnings of cognitive functions, whereas the magician wants mainly to exploit cognitive weaknesses. Yet the techniques developed by magicians over centuries of stage magic could also be subtle and powerful probes in the hands of neuroscientists, supplementing and perhaps expanding the instruments already in experimental use.